Cornerstone’s Mission Statement is “to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ.” That’s not a mission statement we just dreamed up. It was the mission Jesus gave to His disciples before he ascended into heaven (Matthew 28:18-20). And it’s been given to all the disciples of Christ down through the ages ever since – including us! All born-again believers in Jesus Christ are to recognize that they’re disciples of Christ – learners – and not simply converts waiting for heaven.

And disciples are not called to just learn things. People in every sphere of life learn things. We learn eternal truth through the Scriptures so that we’ll grow in our knowledge of God and grow in our character “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).

Why is it so essential that we grow? Why can’t we just coast and enjoy the ride? The apostle Paul goes on to say in the next verse (4:14), “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Children are awesome, but they lack maturity, judgment, and discernment. And that can lead a child into really dangerous waters! When we come to faith in Christ, at whatever age, we need to know that we’re baby Christians! We lack spiritual maturity, spiritual judgment, spiritual discernment and we’re weighed down by sinful baggage. And if we stay in that condition, we’ll be ruthlessly tossed around by every errant philosophy, heretical teaching, and alternate lifestyle. We’ll drift far away from our Savior. I’ve seen it way too often.

No matter how long we’ve been Christians, we still have blind spots. We still have areas of sin that are affecting relationships and hindering our fruitfulness. As long as we have our flesh, we’ll have the need for on-going growth in godliness and devotion.

So my encouragement to you is to be a grower! Commit yourself to growing as a disciple of Christ. If you haven’t yet done so, sign up for a Growth Group! Don’t miss out on the great blessing of studying the Scriptures in a small group of other disciples.

Here’s why we call them “Growth Groups” – our expectation is:

Growth in our knowledge of Scripture. At the top of the list is that we are to grow in our knowledge the Bible. The truth of Scripture is our spiritual food. It’s life to us! If there’s anything our groups must produce, they must produce growth in our knowledge of Scripture.

Growth in our love of God. As we know God better through studying His Word, we grow to love Him more! Our submission and devotion to our sweet Savior grows! Knowledge of Scripture must not simply end in fuller brains and surface understanding. It should lead to greater worship! It should lead to greater love and honor and awe of our glorious Creator God!

Growth in godliness (on-going sanctification). The Word of God is living and active. It’s sharper than any two-edged sword. It’s a mirror. It judges our hearts. It’s profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, training in righteousness. We are not to be passive learners of Scripture, but active appliers! We are to humbly submit ourselves to its teachings and conform our lives to it.

Growth in our spiritual depth. Life is often very difficult. The world, challenging life circumstances, and the devil pound on us every day. We need greater spiritual depth to be able to weather the storms of life. We need to understand what God is working to accomplish. Studying and discussing Scripture as we walk through life together grows our spiritual depth.

Growth in our relationships with one another. We need each other! We can’t thrive as disciples of Christ on our own. We grow best in the context of loving relationships. And relationships flourish and grow as we study together, love one another, laugh together, pray for one another, and go through life together.

Let’s be praying that God would use our time as we study His Word this year – alone in our private devotional times and in Growth Groups – to make us more like His glorious Son!

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